Orange Juice
by Azriel Le Thirn
Summary: When Trevor discovers his mysterious powers, he begins to explore his corrupting world. However, forces of unkown origin become attracted to him in more ways than one in this epic, nonlinear story set in the World of Darkness, from a child's point of view
1. Default Chapter

Part One-The Hallway  
  
Chapter 1  
  
A long hallway, darkened. Doors slam shut. As the sun falls Across the land... ...as more doors open.  
  
And as you step out the door, Light hits you and the warmth Comes back to your pale face...  
  
  
  
Wednesdays, September 25th, 2002 A Suburb in Fairfax, VA 2:36 am  
  
...Trevor shut the door behind him, and was embraced by the darkness of the lightless hallway. From his sister's room, he heard the ending chords of Bells for Her and the start of the next song on her mix CD. And the darkness crawled.  
  
Trevor stood there for quite a while...he couldn't help it, the beauty of the darkness and the crescent moon through the single window mystified him. He stood frozen in awe. The climax of Bohemian Rhapsody (He'd been there that long?) crashed from his sister's room and he was pulled from his trance, returning to what he was doing...getting a glass of orange juice. He crept down the stairs quietly, not to wake his sleeping mother or disturb his older sister. As he entered the kitchen, he flipped a switch, causing a fluorescent light to illuminate, a faint buzz sounding.  
  
Trevor shuddered as he opened the refrigerator, the temperature dropping. He reached out with his pale left arm to adjust the climate of the fridge, and then pulled out the jug of O.J.  
  
"Shit," he said, while pouring as he spilled a bit of the orange liquid on his "Squee!" shirt. All of his dark clothes were damn expensive. Trevor grabbed a paper towel and wiped his shirt, just as he heard a footstep from the adjacent living room.  
  
Trevor pulled a silver ankh out of his pocket, anchoring his thoughts to it. There is no wall between the kitchen and the living room... he thought. I can see and run right through the air to it.  
  
And the wall was gone.  
  
Crouching on the ground of the candlelit living room was a grotesque creature. Its claws had obviously been exploring the room already, Trevor's eyes fell on the ripped velvet couch, the torn up rug...and...  
  
Trevor's hands turned white and tightened around the ankh as he saw what used to be his piano. "Fuckin bastard..." He said, willing himself over the monster and, simultaneously, willing his arms into blades. The perks of being a mage were high.  
  
Unfortunately for Trevor, however, the perks of being a vampire...a Tzimisce at that...were higher.  
  
***  
  
Another time, Another place, The sun is bright, So hide your face.  
  
And in this place, In this time, Another fate, Enters the race.  
  
Wednesday, September 25th, 2002 Bloodlust Cafe, D.C. 5:43 pm  
  
The putrid pile of flesh steamed in the middle of the small crowd formed around it...the lesson- vampires shouldn't go out to clubs in the day...black-out curtains have a tendency to fall at any time. However, the eyes of the crowd weren't focused on the window...or the steaming flesh. No, they were all looking at the auburn haired girl with the bright red eyes. She was standing directly in the sunlight. The question of the hour-- why the fuck wasn't she dead?  
  
And as the vampires pounced on the intruder, she was gone, another magic facade ruined. It would be time for Ailleen to bend herself again. Such was the fun to be a mage.  
  
Wednesday, September 25th, 2002 A Suburb in Fairfax, VA 5:46 pm  
  
Ailleen willed herself outside her home, dropping her auburn hair for her blonde, trading her red eyes for her natural green. She turned her head to the town home a few away from her own. Police cars were parked outside. Yellow tape bordered off the house. Oooh! Ailleen thought as she willed herself within.  
  
Keeping herself invisible...rather, unnoticeable, Ailleen eavesdropped on the conversation--already in progress.  
  
"-eard a crash and he was gone! The living room was in shambles and I couldn't find my little Trevor anywhere!" The mother, apparently, said. The police officer nodded solemnly. "And you said you had a daughter as well, correct?" The officer said, and the mother nodded. "Yes-Julia, she's 6 years older than Trevor...she's gone, too."  
  
Tired of hearing the sobbing, Aileen silently crept upstairs and into what HAD to be Trevor's room. Wall to wall posters...all anime and rock bands. Not a bad room, considering Ailleen's own had its share of 8x19s as well, but she didn't have to put them up...manually. This kid obviously had a lot of time on his hands...  
  
...keyword being had, if he was gone. Upon further searching, though, Aileen realized that all of the posters were at least a year old...  
  
A crash downstairs rocked Ailleen out of her trance, and she was again outside her own home. "I wonder..." She said t to herself before entering.  
  
  
  
And the monster Within you, Dances.  
  
  
  
Wednesday, September 25th, 2002 Blackburn Manor, DC 10:38 pm  
  
The creature grinned. You could call it a man, in some sense, others, a woman. But it wasn't human. The most obvious reason being that its skin was scaly and green. It had a long, blood red tongue, which ended sharply. Of course, it had fangs. And, luckily, it was dressed, in very lavish Victorian clothing.  
  
It was licking Trevor's face when he woke up. Just as Trevor's mouth shot open to scream, the tongue flicked across his open maw, sealing it shut. Only muffled cries could be heard now.  
  
The creature laughed, and dove its hand first to Trevor's crotch--the sick bastard-- and then into its own pocket, pulling out the silver ankh. Trevor's eyes shot open, and the creature could feel the metal change somehow...grow colder...it knew that Trevor was trying to anchor his thoughts.  
  
"My child..." it cooed in a surprisingly human, deep, eerie female voice. "That isn't necessary..."  
  
It again licked Trevor's face, now sealing his eyes, ears, and nose shut. Then...Trevor was alone in the dark, small room.  
  
...senseless.  
  
***  
  
Lady Shanin stepped out of the torture room, still grinning. Branson, her decisively human ghoul, stood as she entered the miraculously furnished parlor. "My lady, I trust things went well?" He asked. Shanin only cackled, licking her elongated forehead with her grotesque tongue. "Yes, the specimen will do quite well. I even suspect some Lupine blood in him! Isn't that quaint?" Branson nodded as Shanin walked up the grandiose spiral staircase, laughing to herself about Lupines.  
  
And so the past Begins to be told And the puzzle Begins to unfold...  
  
Thursday, September 26th, 2002 A Suburb in Fairfax, VA 12:02 pm  
  
Things were starting to piece together--the puzzle was slowly being solved, if you will--for Ailleen. She had been awakened by such an energy flux, and she had felt it before...definitely...What if that kid was like her?  
  
But then again, what business was it of hers? She contemplated that as she fell into the embrace of Morpheus. 


	2. Chapter 2

Orange Juice  
  
Part 1-The Hallway  
  
Chapter 2  
  
October 31, 2001 11:59 pm A Club in D.C.  
  
Julia stood in waiting, along with hundreds of other gothic teens, in her black leather dress and red "blood" splattered peasant top. The club was silent, watching the clock as it counted to midnight.when the real party would begin.  
  
For some reason, the moment felt holy for Julia. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1.  
  
And the lights flickered out.or did something slide over them?  
  
October 31, 2001 12:00 am A Suburb in DC  
  
Julia suddenly shot up in her bed. What a fun nightmare, she thought. How she wished to live in that kind of world. She stood up, and walked out to the hall.to get a glass of orange juice. She passed her brother's, Trevor, room. Julia could hear the familiar sound of AIM emanating from within. She knocked on the door, and her surprisingly tall and muscular (for a 12 year old) brother opened the door, wearing only a black t-shirt and boxers.and of course his ball chain necklace.  
  
Julia, on the other hand, wore a big shirt and boxers. Very comfy. She, being 19, was supposed to tower over her little brother, but of course he was just as tall (well, taller, but Julia refused to believe that.) as she was.  
  
"Shouldn't you be asleep?" Julia asked, leaning on the door frame. Trevor rand a hand through his brown hair, and Julia caught a glimpse of a silver trinklet along the bottom of Trevor's wrist as he answered. "Tomorrow is Friday, I don't have to really think." His voice was low, but definitely not post pubescent. Julia raised a brow. "Where'd ya get that?" She said, pointing at his wrist. Trevor untied the ankh from his wrist and hung it from his fingers before his sister's eyes. "Found it at a shop in DC-above one of those palm reading places. Supposed to be an anchor for your thoughts, or something."  
  
Julia's eyes shot open. He was on the first step to becoming a mage, like her. She closed her eyes, entering her brother's mind silently, "telling" him things. Trevor blinked. He suddenly realized things. Realized that reality is mutable. Realized that it could be changed at will.  
  
"I understand." He said.  
  
November 1, 2001 A Suburb in Fairfax, VA 11:31 am  
  
Their mother was out, and Julia and Trevor sat cross legged, facing each other. Trevor held the ankh in his hand, Julia-a golden sphere. "Now focus your thoughts on the ankh first. Tie your thoughts to it." She said, and Trevor nodded. He tried, tried and tried again. Julia seemed to already have done it, the ball was shaking rapidly.  
  
He tried once more, and this time he almost felt his mind wrap around the ankh, it began to grow cold. "Something's happening!" Trevor said, stammering. Julia smiled, her eyes still shut. A soft blue aura now surrounded her. "Now keep your thoughts on that and focus on your target." she said, nodding her head towards the pebble on the floor.  
  
Trevor awoke.  
  
He was the mind of the rock. He willed his reality to be so. And it rose off the ground.  
  
Along with everything else in the room.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
November 22, 2000 Northwestern University, IL 9:24 pm  
  
Emotions awake While gifts Of love Blossom  
  
It's always Darkest Just before Dawn.  
  
Julia felt awful. She sat on her tough campus bed in her tiny single dorm, her laptop blaring Dave Matthews. Today was he brother, Trevor's birthday. She brushed her natural red hair aside as she heard a knock on the door.  
  
"Who is it?" She heard herself say. "Steve.Steve Branson. I'm your new RA. Just wanted to say 'hi.'" There was silence for a moment, Julia not moving and Steve not adding anymore, before the awkwardness was broken, or, some could say, deepened. "Um, hi."  
  
Julia opened the door, and beckoned the tall man in. He wore a pretty tight turtle neck sweater that hugged his form. He wore baggy, faded jeans and a chain flowed from his pocket to a belt loop. Fashion shock, one could say. Although, Julia wasn't one to judge. She adorned a long white knit sweater jacket that flowed down past her knees. She wore a blue long sleeve shirt underneath and sweat pants.  
  
Steven looked around the dorm, rubbing his barely there beard. "Alright," he said. "I'd better move on." Suddenly, he tripped over a rise in a rug (thrown on the ground very messily). He fell, a golden sphere flying out of his pocket.  
  
Julia blinked at Steven, walking over to him, and bending to pick up the sphere. It seemed both cold and warm to the touch at the same time. She then looked down at the slightly older man. He was fine, if not a bit shaken.  
  
Holding the sphere in one hand and offering the other towards Steven, she inquired. "What's this thing?" she said, pulling him up and nudging towards her other hand. Steven, now fully standing again, stammered.  
  
"Uh..It's.err." He began to say before an unknown voice interjected. "It's a power focus," said the newcomer, leaning against the doorframe. Julia couldn't help but notice how cool looking her stature against the frame was. She'd have to remember to do that in front of Trevor one day. The woman was very pale, wearing a read leather blouse, fishnet arm socks, and bondage pants. "He's a mage."  
  
The climax of the live version of Precious Things by Tori Amos startled Julia out of her confusion. "He's a what?" she asked towards the woman.  
  
November 22, 2000 A Suburb in Fairfax, VA 11:50 PM  
  
Trevor blinked in awe as an email sent from his sister popped out of his screen and danced around his room. Little, variously colored "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TREVOR!!" s spun all around him. 


	3. Chapter 3

Orange Juice  
  
Part 1-The Hallway  
  
Chapter 3  
  
January 2, 1002 Constantinople 3:00 am  
  
Nell Shanin ran. She ran as fast as her human legs could take her. Her city was falling. She had seen such horrors. Her family was dead. Here friends were dead.  
  
She would soon be too, in a sense. 


End file.
